Self-discrepancies in clinically anxious and depressed university students

Could you be more specific, please: self-discrepancies, affect, and variation in specificity and relevance

Multiple studies have suggested that the use of the Selves Questionnaire to assess self-discrepancies related to specific forms of affect may be problematic. The authors tested whether greater specificity in participant characteristics, study context, and form of assessment would increase the ability to detect the hypothesized differences. The Selves Questionnaire failed to show the hypothesized relations. A modified version of the Selves Questionnaire did show some of the hypothesized relationships; however, these relationships were stronger in regard to depression than anxiety, which also contradicted hypotheses. The results provide more evidence that the Selves Questionnaire, especially when used alone, may be of limited use in assessing self-discrepancies as described by self-discrepancy theory.

Stability of self-esteem in bipolar disorder: comparisons among remitted bipolar patients, remitted unipolar patients and healthy controls

OBJECTIVES

Changes in beliefs about the self are a central feature of bipolar disorder, with grandiose self-belief common in mania and low self-esteem evident in periods of depression. We investigated whether unstable self-esteem is a characteristic of bipolar disorder in remission.

METHODS

We compared 18 patients with DSM-IV bipolar disorder in remission, 16 patients with unipolar disorder in remission, and 19 healthy controls. The primary measure was a diary kept for one week and completed twice each day, measuring self-esteem and positive and negative affect. We also administered Winters and Neale's (J Abnorm Psychol 1985; 94: 282-290) implicit measure of attributional style.

RESULTS

Whereas mean levels of self-esteem and affect were not abnormal in the remitted bipolar patients, the bipolar patients showed strong fluctuations in these processes. In common with the unipolar patients, they also showed a pessimistic attributional style on the Pragmatic Inference Task (PIT).

CONCLUSIONS

Instability of self-esteem and affect is present in bipolar patients, even when their symptoms are in remission, and has previously been found in people at genetic risk of the disorder. It may be a marker of vulnerability to the disorder.

On the links between self-discrepancies, rumination, metacognitions, and symptoms of depression in undergraduates

The present study aimed to test the central components of Papageorgiou and Wells' (2003) non-clinical metacognitive model of rumination and depression that is grounded on the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model of emotional disorders [Wells, A., & Matthews, G. (1994). Attention and emotion: A clinical perspective. Hove, UK: Lawrence Erlbaum.]. A second aim of this study was to extend the non-clinical model with the concept of self-discrepancy in line with the S-REF model. Data of the current study were collected in a large sample of non-clinical Dutch undergraduates (N=196), who completed a battery of questionnaires including measures of rumination, positive and negative metacognitions, depressive symptoms, and self-discrepancy (i.e., actual-ideal, actual-ought, and actual-feared discrepancies). Hypothesized relationships among these variables were tested by means of structural equation modelling. Following some theoretically consistent modifications, the model was an adequate fit to the data. With respect to the second aim of the study, self-discrepancies were directly linked to symptoms of depression as well as indirectly via the cognitive processes involved in the metacognitive model of rumination and depression. Evidence was found for positive beliefs about rumination to partially mediate the relation between self-discrepancy and rumination. Clinical implications of the findings, including implementation of a metacognitive-focused cognitive therapy of depression, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Borderline personality disorder features: the role of self-discrepancies and self-complexity

OBJECTIVES

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) involves disordered self-conceptions, along with dysphoria and anxiety. The present study examined the role of actual-ideal (AI) and actual-ought (AO) self-discrepancies, and self-complexity as predictors of borderline personality features in a student population.

METHOD

AI and AO self-discrepancy magnitudes across all self-domains were assessed, along with self-complexity, idiographically and nomothetically. Borderline personality features were assessed using subscales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2).

RESULTS

Both AI and AO self-discrepancies were directly related to BPD personality features, in that those with larger self-discrepancies of both types reported more features. Self-complexity had no direct relationship to BPD personality features; rather, it moderated the relationship between AI, but not AO, self-discrepancies and BPD personality features. For individuals low in self-complexity, a stronger relationship between AI self-discrepancies and BPD personality features existed.

CONCLUSIONS

This study is novel in its consideration of the impact of features of the self-system on BPD personality features. It highlights the important role that AO self-discrepancies, and the combined role of AI self-discrepancies and self-complexity, have in increasing vulnerability to BPD. The findings suggest that different pathways might be involved in the vulnerability to BPD, depending on self-discrepancy type and level of self-complexity.

Self-regulation, rumination, and vulnerability to depression in adolescent girls

There is increasing evidence that with the onset of adolescence, girls experience higher rates of depression than boys. However, a comprehensive understanding of the risk factors contributing to this emerging gender difference has yet to be attained. Previous studies indicate that both self-discrepancy, the perception that one is failing to attain an important personal goal, and ruminative coping, a tendency to passively and repetitively focus on one's failure and the causes and consequences of that failure, contribute to depression and that adolescent girls are more likely to manifest each than adolescent boys. In this translational study we tested the hypothesis that, whereas both actual:ideal discrepancy and ruminative coping style would independently predict depression in adolescent girls, the combination of high levels of actual:ideal discrepancy and ruminative coping would predict more severe depressive symptoms. Analyses of cross-sectional data in a sample of 223 girls ranging from 7th through 12th grades revealed a significant main effect for ruminative coping style and a trend for actual:ideal discrepancy, as well as the predicted interaction effect. We discuss the implications of this integrative psychosocial model for the etiology, treatment, and prevention of depression in adolescent girls.

Self-system therapy as an intervention for self-regulatory dysfunction in depression: a randomized comparison with cognitive therapy

Self-system therapy (SST) is a new therapy based on regulatory focus theory (E. T. Higgins, 1997) for depressed individuals unable to pursue promotion goals effectively. The authors conducted a randomized trial comparing SST with cognitive therapy (CT) in a sample of 45 patients with a range of depressive symptoms to test 2 hypotheses: that SST would be more efficacious for depressed individuals characterized by inadequate socialization toward pursuing promotion goals and that SST would lead to greater reduction in dysphoric responses to priming of promotion goals. There was no overall difference in efficacy between treatments, but patients whose socialization history lacked an emphasis on promotion goals showed significantly greater improvement with SST. In addition, SST patients showed a greater reduction in dysphoric responses to promotion goal priming than did CT patients. The results illustrate the value of a theory-based translational approach to treatment design and selection.

Theory of mind, causal attribution and paranoia in Asperger syndrome

Theory of mind (ToM) deficits are central to autistic spectrum disorders, including Asperger syndrome. Research in psychotic disorders has developed a cognitive model of paranoid delusions involving abnormal causal attributions for negative events. Possible aetiologies of these include deficits in social reasoning, specifically ToM. The present study investigated this attributional model of paranoia in Asperger syndrome. Participants diagnosed with Asperger syndrome scored significantly higher on a measure of paranoia and lower on a measure of ToM, compared with the control group. They did not differ in self-concept and causal attributions, contrary to the attributional model of paranoia. A regression analysis highlighted private self-consciousness as the only predictor of paranoia. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Recognizing and treating anxiety and depression in adolescents. Normal and abnormal responses

Recognition of depressive and anxiety disorders in adolescents reduces morbidity, mortality, and lifetime risk for psychiatric illness and maladaptive behaviors. Effective treatments for these disorders are available and are associated with minimal severe side effects. Because adolescents tend to underreport their psychologic distress, screening for these disorders in the primary care setting is incumbent on the clinician. Depression or anxiety may be a primary or a secondary condition--with each other and with other medical illness. Substance abuse, including cigarettes, should not be overlooked as an accompanying risk factor for poor health care habits and as an indicator of degree of family (lack of) support. Adolescents at risk should be screened and their symptoms taken seriously. This brief overview does not focus on the need for primary care clinicians to seek assistance and support of psychiatrists in the diagnosis and development of treatment algorithms. All clinicians should be reminded that judgments about peoples' internal mental states and function are difficult to assess objectively and with compassion. Initial assessment in the primary care setting should include a telephone consultation with a reliable psychiatric colleague and referral for more in-depth evaluation in the event of more complicated course. These disorders need to be treated comprehensively because of the lifelong implications that having a chronic disease bear on the individual and his or her physiology. Primary care clinicians are pivotal instruments in engaging adolescents to embrace appropriate therapeutic measures for their current and future health.

Own versus Other Standpoints in Self-Regulation: Developmental Antecedents and Functional Consequences

An inner audience is an internal representation of others' values, goals, and standards for the self (other standpoint on self). It contrasts with an internal representation of one's own values, goals, and standards for the self (own standpoint on self). Using self-discrepancy theory ( E. T. Higgins, 1987) as a framework to integrate diverse psychological perspectives on this classic distinction, the authors consider the role of own versus other standpoints in self-regulation. They describe developmental shifts and socialization effects on the self-regulatory strength of own and other standpoints. Evidence that individual differences and sex differences in own versus other standpoints for self-regulation relate to different affective and interpersonal vulnerabilities is reviewed. The concepts of identification and introjection are empirically distinguished in a novel way, and therapeutic implications are discussed.

The ideal and the feared self as predictors of psychological symptoms among geriatric care nurses

Following the 1987 work of Higgins and of Ogilvie, we investigated whether discrepancies between one's actual self and ideal self predict psychological symptoms better than discrepancies between the actual and feared self. We also examined Ogilvie's 1987 finding that the feared self is a more concrete cognitive representation than is the ideal self. 51 geriatric nurses completed the SCL-90-R and a questionnaire designed to measure actual self, ideal self, and feared self. Discrepancies between scores for actual and ideal self predicted severity of reported depressive and global symptoms and discrepancies between the actual and feared self were correlated negatively only with scores on Hostility. Further, clinical judges rated the nurses' memories representing their feared self as more concrete than memories depicting their ideal self. Results are discussed in terms of self-discrepancy theory and how the ideal and feared selves might be studied further.

Possible selves in major depression

Ratings of possible selves and resultant self-concept discrepancies were examined in 25 patients diagnosed with major depression and 25 control subjects. Self-concept discrepancies significantly discriminated patients from controls. The presence of negative features in the self-schema was a stronger indicator of depressive symptomatology than was the absence of positive self-appraisal. Depressives' future projections of self were less pessimistic than predicted by cognitive theories of depression.

The self, attributional processes and abnormal beliefs: towards a model of persecutory delusions

In this paper we review a series of recent investigations into cognitive abnormalities associated with persecutory delusions. Studies indicate that persecutory delusions are associated with abnormal attention to threat-related stimuli, an explanatory bias towards attributing negative outcomes to external causes and biases in information processing relating to the self-concept. We propose an integrative model to account for these findings in which it is hypothesized that, in deluded patients, activation of self/ideal discrepancies by threat-related information triggers defensive explanatory biases, which have the function of reducing the self/ideal discrepancies but result in persecutory ideation. We conclude by discussing the implications of this model for the cognitive-behavioural treatment of paranoid delusions.